Anyone who didn't know who Liberty County High School's highest achievers were before Thursday night certainly does now. LCHS students, family and friends gathered in the high school cafeteria to cheer their peers for receiving recognition in the form of scholarships and academic honors.

It was a cool evening for a hot event in Hinesville on Friday as several hundred cancer survivors and their supporters turned out for Relay for Life. The 12-hour fundraiser and celebration featured more than 250 survivors and 47 sponsored booths.

When wartime came to 1940s Georgia, rural life was turned on its ear for the residents of Taylors Creek and other small communities scattered throughout nearly 300,000 acres. The Department of Defense needed their land for a strategic military post and they could do nothing more than take what little money was offered and move out to make a new life somewhere else.

The rain stayed away for the key ceremony welcoming Staff Sgt. Jason Letterman and his family to the home built to meet the injured Iraq war veteran's needs. Sunshine and brisk air accompanied the family as they were escorted into the neighborhood and a crowd of well-wishers and volunteers, who heard from U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, members of the build team and the veteran himself.

More than a month has passed since New Year's Day. How are you doing on those resolutions? Deidre Howell, administrator for the Liberty County Health Department, said personal resolutions revolve most often around health and fitness. Coincidentally, those pledges can be the toughest to keep. Because Howell's mission is to help local residents stay healthy through the We Can! initiative, she recently shared a few tips designed to keep resolution-makers on the right track all year round:

Hinesville leaders received a shot in the arm in May from a comprehensive community study that brought to light several issues related to quality of life in the city. The study was conducted by the Fanning Institute at the University of Georgia at the city's request and relied on substantial input from citizens.

Blistering summer days have air conditioning service professionals working up quite a sweat, answering more calls than usual in an attempt to keep area residents cool. As daytime temperatures continue to hover in the mid-90s with heat indexes up to 100 degrees, even afternoon rains give little relief when cool air is nowhere to be found.

The Liberty County Commission last month reviewed a progress report on plans to build a bypass that will move traffic around the city of Hinesville and some neighboring municipalities, in anticipation of projected growth.

Liberty County will have a place to stash debris should a serious storm ever blow through the area, now that Liberty County Development Authority board members have approved designating 10 acres of land for holding storm debris such as brush, tree branches and household goods at its monthly meeting on Monday.

All but two schools in the Liberty County School System met the 2010 requirements for adequate yearly progress, according to results released this week by the state Department of Education. Bradwell Institute and Liberty County High School both fell short of the standards, which have grown increasingly stringent as the state works to keep pace with federal standards for academic success in public schools.

Dr. Peter Mastopoulos has been named interim director of Armstrong Atlantic State University's Liberty Center in Hinesville, succeeding Dr. Joe Weaver, who returned to teaching fulltime. Mastopoulos previously served as assistant director of the Armstrong Center as well as an adjunct instructor in adult education since 2005.

Mastopoulos said he has definite goals lined up to help make Liberty Campus and the students it serves successful. "We want to make sure we're meeting the educational needs of the community, that we're accessible to the community," he said. "We want to provide high quality, state university system education ...